The Colton Cowboy. Carla Cassidy
then there were the totally inappropriate thoughts that had intruded among the more important ones. Did Anders always smell so good? Like sunshine and wind and a faint woodsy cologne?
His broad chest made her wonder what it might feel like to be held tightly against it...against him. And that sexy smile of his...he was just so hot.
Jeez, what was wrong with her in entertaining any of those kinds of thoughts? She wasn’t even sure she liked him and she definitely hadn’t appreciated his taking over the situation when she was the cop. She wasn’t into macho men who felt they had to protect the little lady of the house.
“Cream or sugar?” he asked.
“No thanks, black is fine,” she replied.
She was grateful when he placed a red mug of coffee before her and then sat at the table across from her with his own mug. At least when he was seated she couldn’t see the entire length of his sexy physique.
“So, tell me about these Overly Protective Brothers of yours,” he said.
She wrapped her fingers around the warm mug. “No matter what job I’m assigned to Carson is always there shadowing me. I think he’s told the chief that he wants to be on the same assignments as me and that makes me crazy. Then there is Lucas. Neither one of them trusts me to be capable to do my job or live my life and I keep telling them to back off.”
“I think I heard Demi once say that Lucas was her number one competition in the bounty-hunting business,” he said.
“He often told me the same thing about her. I just wish he would stop trying to talk me out of being a cop.”
“I understand them wanting to keep you safe. I feel the same way about my kid sister,” he replied.
“Valeria is a real sweetheart.”
He nodded and a smile curved his lips. “We haven’t been close in the past, but I’m working hard to build a close relationship with her now.”
“How come you live out here instead of in the big house with the rest of your family?” she asked curiously.
“My parents wanted me to live in one of the wings there, but I prefer to be out here. To be honest, my parents make me more than a little crazy.”
“How?”
He took a drink of the coffee and then leaned back in the chair. “I know my parents love me, but my mother has always been kind of cold and my father definitely tries to be overbearing. Growing up it always felt like they were more interested in what people thought about them and how many tacky objects they could buy for the house than parenting.” He grimaced. “I shouldn’t have said all that.”
“I’m not a gossiper, Anders,” she said in an effort to let him know his words were safe with her.
“So, tell me more about your family.”
Since he had shared so much about his, she decided to open up a little about how she felt. “With two older brothers and three younger siblings, I always felt like I wasn’t seen or heard much. I guess you could say I suffered from typical middle child syndrome. There were a lot more boisterous voices than mine in the family.” She looked down into her coffee, thinking about the one family member’s voice she would never, ever hear again.
“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Anders said softly.
She looked up at him sharply. “What are you, some kind of a mind reader?”
“No, no mind reader, you just looked incredibly sad and I took a guess that you were thinking about Bo.”
“I was.” She took a sip of her coffee and drew in a deep, painful breath. “The night before his murder we had a terrible fight.” Emotion pressed tight against her chest, but she swallowed hard in an effort to maintain control. The last thing she wanted was to break down and appear weak, especially in front of Anders Colton.
“We fought and then he was dead and there was no way for me to tell him I was sorry or take back the words I said to him that night.”
“What did you fight about?”
“It was stupid really. We got into an argument about ethics. I told him that there were times I thought he was ethically challenged, and he told me I was an uptight, boring straight arrow. That really made me mad. I got heated and he got heated and it got ugly. Of course I didn’t know that would be the last time I’d talk to him and I hate that I never got a chance to tell him I was sorry.”
“I’m sure he knew how much you loved him,” Anders said softly.
She nodded, suddenly exhausted. It had to be after two and the night had been filled with action, but it was the emotional drain of thinking about her brother that had her finally ready for bed.
“I think I’m going to call it a night,” she said. She drank the last of her coffee from her mug and then stood.
“I’m with you,” he replied, and also got up from the table. He took the mug from her and set them in the kitchen sink, and then they both walked back into the living room where Bonnie was still sleeping soundly.
“Thanks for the coffee,” she said.
“No problem.”
“Don’t be surprised if I’m up again with the baby. I don’t want you to hear me and think I’m another intruder,” she said as she picked up the cradle.
“Got it. The bathroom is in the hallway. Feel free to use towels or whatever you need from the linen closet.” He walked with her to the bedroom door and gestured to the bathroom across the hallway.
“Thank you,” she replied.
He held her gaze for a long moment and her breath hitched in her chest. There was something soft, something sensual in his gaze. Lordy, but the man was a handsome devil. “Elle, I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me, too,” she replied. She broke the gaze by looking down at Bonnie. “I would definitely hate to leave this precious girl with a man who didn’t even know to feed her when she cried. Good night, Anders.”
“Good night, Elle.”
She closed the bedroom door and then placed the cradle on the chair and stared down at the sleeping Bonnie. Right now she was a total mystery. Was she Anders’s baby or was she Bo’s? She desperately wanted her to be Bo’s.
She didn’t have the answer as to who the baby belonged to, but the appearance of the masked man in the cabin definitely made her wonder if little Bonnie might be in some kind of danger.
If she had to she would stay here with Anders for however long it took to make sure the baby remained safe. And she told herself her commitment to stay here had nothing to do with Anders’s impossibly blue eyes or his sexy smile.
Anders took the fried bacon out of the skillet and placed it strip by strip on a plate covered with a paper towel. He knew Elle was up because he’d heard the shower in the bathroom running a few minutes ago.
Elle Gage. He’d thought about her way too much the night before. Sleep had been elusive and she’d filled his thoughts in decidedly inappropriate ways. He’d wondered what she’d look like with her hair loose instead of tied in the ponytail. And just how sexy would she look out of that uniform?
She intrigued him with her serious brown eyes that had softened so beautifully when she’d gazed at Bonnie and spoken of her brother, Bo. Anders had spent far too long before going to sleep wondering what it would be like to see that soft gaze directed at him.
Then he’d remained awake and wondered when, since he’d met Officer Elle Gage, had he lost his mind? It had been a very long time since a woman had made him curious about her, but he was definitely curious about Elle.